The Great Dome

High in the roof of the passageway beyond the Roman Chamber is The Great Dome - the most ancient of Buxton's many fine domes, rising to a height of 12m (40ft). It is thought to have been formed by swirling flood-waters, loaded with rock and sand, scouring the cave and cutting through several beds of rock at this point. The high banks of sediment on either side of the path were deposited by glacial melt-water at the tail-end of the last Ice Age 10,000 years ago.

We catch a first glimpse of the Cavern's flowstone here - calcite formations, in this instance stained blue-grey by the mineral manganese. Elsewhere you will see the red staining effects of iron oxide.